APC says APD is wasting time by rallying

Lagos - The All Progressive Congress (APC) has hit at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) by saying that the ruling party is wasting time and called it an embarrassment, reports Naij.

After the PDP had to rally to an almost empty stadium, and the APC has criticized the lack of support for the ruling party by saying that, present Goodluck Jonathan’s lack of support confirms the unpopularity of the ruling party and it presidential candidate.

The opposing party went on to say that Jonathan and his administration have nothing to show for heading the state for the past four years; as such they do not deserve to be voted in.

The APC urged the president to stop thinking about being re-elected, as they argue that with his popularity slowly decreasing, the current president does not stand a chance. Muhammadu Buhari's party concluded by calling out people from River Plate make sure that the PDP gets 10 percent of votes from the region.

Read more at Naij.

Jonathan says he has been transparent

Abuja - President Goodluck Jonathan says that he has been transparent throughout his tenure as president, reports Guardian.

The People’s Democracy Party’s (PDP) presidential runner, Jonathan, says the fact that he did not favor any states, however, treated every state the same shows that he is a transparent president.

The APC has been accused of forsaking the south-south geopolitical, however, the president responded by saying that no part of the country is left behind in terms of development, and that all states in the country should advance all at the same speed.

The president ended the rally by promising that, jobs will be created for the youth within the state.
Read More at Guardian.

APC accuses govt of blocking journalist visas

Lagos - Nigeria's main opposition party on Thursday accused the government of blocking foreign journalists from covering next month's elections and urged international monitors to press for access.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) claimed there had been a "systematic denial of visas" by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
"A regime that has nothing to hide or fear will not hesitate to allow international coverage of what is undoubtedly one of the most important elections in the world this year," said APC spokesman Lai Mohammed.
"Information reaching us indicates that most of the foreign journalists who applied for visas to travel to Nigeria from different parts of the world for the elections have been kept in abeyance under the guise of security clearance.
"This is totally unacceptable and it is another indication that this administration has a lot of skeletons in its cupboard as far as the forthcoming elections are concerned."

The APC, which is expected to push the PDP close at the February 14 presidential and parliamentary vote, called on local and international election observers to take up the matter with the government.

The opposition alleges that the PDP is trying to "scuttle" the vote with a smear campaign on its candidate, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, and through the courts because it fears it will lose.

There was no immediate comment from the government on the visa issue.
Sue Valentine, Africa programme director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said they were "extremely concerned" by the situation.

"When Africa's largest economy and most populous democracy goes to the polls it is global news," she told AFP in an email.
"In keeping with its claim that it respects press freedom and that these electi
ons will be transparent and democratic, the Nigerian government should expedite the accreditation of journalists.
"The world can only understand the challenges and opportunities in Nigeria if journalists are on the ground and free to report a multiplicity of stories."

- AFP

PDP decries property destruction in Taraba State

Abuja - The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) raised concern at the destruction of its property in Taraba State despite a commitment by the contestants of the upcoming elections to ensure a violence-free poll.

This follows rampaging youth suspected to be members of All Progressives Congress (APC) attacking the PDP’s e Secretariat in the state and destroying several vehicles.
The youths which according some to the security personnel keeping vigil at the Secretariat located along Barde Way, stormed the premises when President Goodluck Jonathan and his entourage were busy campaigning at the stadium located at the outskirt of Jalingo metropolis on Wednesday.
Security personnel who spoke to journalists said the youth numbering 100 took them by surprise thereby destroying over ten vehicles belonging to the staff of the party.

This publication established that heavily armed security personnel had taken over the premises of the secretariat.
Confirming the report, Public Relations Officer of the party, Napoleon Adamu, felt sad that in spite of the Abuja Accord signed by all the candidates contesting the presidency, some “disgruntled elements” of some political parties can still go as far as attacking members of the ruling party.
He alleged the attackers were members of the opposition party (APC), adding that the attack was carried out they were at the stadium for the presidential rally.
Adamu said the party was relieved no life was lost in the attack but admonished the teeming supporters of the party not to take the law into their hands as security operatives would soon fish out perpetrators of this act.
When contacted, Chairman of APC, Alhaji Hassan Jika Ardo, denied any involvement of their supporters in the attack.
“We are just coming into Jalingo from our campaign. Our supporters are peace loving people and we don't go about with thugs,” he said.

- CAJ News

Fighter jets jobs bomb town held by Boko Haram

2015-01-29 21:31
Kano - Nigerian fighter jets have bombed the northeast town of Malam Fatori, controlled by Boko Haram, the military said Thursday.

Witnesses and some media reports said troops and airforce planes from neighbouring Chad were involved in the operation on Nigerian soil but Abuja neither confirmed nor denied the claim.

There was no initial word on casualties or whether Boko Haram fighters had fled the area.
"Malam Fatori is within the area of operation covered by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) of which Chad has always been a part," defence spokesman Chris Olukolade told AFP in a text message.

"The Nigerian airforce has also been conducting (an) air mission there for two days now," he added. "It is all part of the ongoing efforts against terrorism."

The MNJTF was set up more than a decade ago to combat smuggling in the remote region but as the Nigerian Islamist insurgency in the area intensified, the mandate of the force changed.

Residents in the town of Bosso, which lies next to Malam Fatori but across the border in Niger, said the bombardment began early on Wednesday and lasted for several hours.

"At around 8:00 am (0700 GMT) we started seeing three military jets encircling Malam Fatori and soon after (they) began dropping bombs," said Idrissa Ari, a Bosso resident.

Reaching locals inside Malam Fatori is difficult given the collapse of the mobile phone network on the Nigerian side of the border.

The authorities in N'Djamena did not respond to requests seeking comment on their alleged involvement in the operation.

The Boko Haram uprising has become a regional crisis, with the four directly affected countries, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria -- agreeing to boost cooperation to contain the threat.

The African Union's annual summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is this week expected to focus heavily on the threat from Boko Haram.

AU chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has called the insurgency "a threat to the whole continent".

Chadian troops in CameroonA brutal attack this month on the Nigerian town of Baga, near Chad and Niger, killed several hundred people and raised fresh questions about the Nigerian military's capacity to face Boko Haram alone.
An aerial bombardment inside Nigeria by the Chadian airforce, if confirmed, would mark a major development in bilateral security cooperation.

While it was unclear whether Chadian troops had begun operating in Nigeria, security sources said soldiers from Chad had arrived in Cameroon ahead of an expected campaign against the Islamists.
"The first Chadian soldiers were deployed yesterday (Wednesday) in Fotokol," a Cameroonian security source told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Fotokol is just 500 meters (0.3 miles) from the Nigerian town of Gamboru, currently controlled by Boko Haram.

A senior Cameroonian officer said the deployment was part of "preliminary action" for the Chadian army to take on Boko Haram alongside troops from Yaounde.

The insurgents control large parts of Nigeria's Borno state, which shares borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Meanwhile, local sources in three areas of Cameroon's far north reported that 10 people had their throats slit by suspected Boko Haram militants this week.

- AFP

Chad army retakes Nigerian town from Boko Haram

015-01-30 07:04
Niamey - Troops from Chad have driven Boko Haram fighters from aborder town seized by the Islamist militants late last year, military sources stationed in neighbouring Niger said on Thursday.

Chad's involvement in retaking the town comes as the regional military heavyweight assumes an increasingly aggressive role in combating the militants and regional leaders weigh new options for containing the movement's spread.

Boko Haram, which has killed thousands in its struggle to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, seized the town of Malam Fatori in November, sending government soldiers stationed there fleeing across the nearby border into Niger.

"This morning the Chadians retook Malam Fatori. There were clashes with Boko Haram that lasted over 24 hours," said a Niger army officer deployed to the adjacent region of Diffa. "There were combat aircraft but we don't know their nationality."

A second officer said Chadian troops began massing on the shores of Lake Chad last week before crossing into Nigeria on Wednesday to retake Malam Fatori.

Nigeria's defence headquarters tweeted that Nigerian Air Force aircraft had been involved in two days of air operations over the town though it did not confirm Malam Fatori had been retaken or directly acknowledge the presence of Chadian troops.

"(Malam Fatori) is within the area of operation covered by the Multinational Joint Task Force of which Chad has always been a part," the defence headquarters' official Twitter account said.
Chadian officials were not immediately available for comment.

The four nations of the Lake Chad Basin - Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria - agreed to bring their forces together to fight Boko Haram in October, together with a contingent from Benin, which borders Nigeria to the west.

But disagreements surfaced over how to deploy the troops and a cohesive fighting force has failed to materialised.


Meanwhile, Boko Haram, which has expanded their zone of operations over the past year most notably into northern Cameroon, has stepped up attacks in the run-up to February 14 elections in Nigeria.

After Cameroonian President Paul Biya appealed for help to fend off Boko Haram, Chad sent troops, armoured vehicles and attack helicopters earlier this month to assist the thousands of Cameroonian soldiers already deployed to the border.

The African Union on Thursday endorsed a West African plan to set up a regional task force of 7,500 to fight Islamist Boko Haram militants, a senior official said, in a vital step towards securing U.N. Security Council backing.

- Reuters

Angry youths stone Goodluck Jonathan's convoy

Jalingo — Youths angry at the government's failure to fight Islamic extremists threw stones Thursday at President Goodluck Jonathan's electioneering convoy in the eastern town of Jalingo, breaking windshields and windows on several vehicles. An Associated Press reporter was unable to see if anyone was hurt.
Police used tear gas and whips to disperse the mob.

From Jalingo, Jonathan flew to Yola, capital of Adamawa state, where officials had declared the route of his motorcade a no-go area. The presidential cavalcade already had been stoned in northern Katsina city and northeast Bauchi last week. Youths in Bauchi flung shoes and plastic bottles at Jonathan's podium at a rally.
In Jalingo, soldiers guarded billboards and posters of Jonathan, who is running for re-election on February 14. Protesters shouted that the troops should instead be fighting the Boko Haram insurgents blamed for the deaths of some 10,000 people in the past year.

"Why are they using soldiers and other security operatives? They should be deployed to Sambisa and fight with Boko Haram, not with innocent civilians," one youth yelled as he tore down a poster of a smiling Jonathan.
Sambisa Forest is where the insurgents have camps and where they are believed to be holding some of the 276 schoolgirls abducted from a boarding school in the remote town of Chibok in April — a mass kidnapping that brought international outrage.

Dozens of the girls escaped on their own but 219 remain missing, a reminder of the failures of the government and military.

At a rally in Yola, Jonathan promised his government will do more to help some of the million-plus people driven from their homes in the 5-year-old insurgency.

"We are totally committed to the liberation of Adamawa state," Jonathan pledged. But Adamawa state legislator Adamu Kamale complained Wednesday that seven villages and Michika town have been under attack by Boko Haram since Friday and that he has appealed in vain for soldiers to come and fight the extremists.
It is unclear if displaced people will be able to vote. Hundreds of thousands have fled across borders. And it is not known how many remain trapped in more than 100 northeastern village and towns held by the insurgents.
Nigeria's home-grown Boko Haram group has been attacking Cameroonian villages and troops, broadening the conflict and raising fears among Nigeria's neighbors.

- AP